Chewy Sugar Cookies #2

Browsing through baking recipes online, it was determined that in China "complicated" i.e. "expensive" ingredients should be avoided. The basics are cheap: flour, butter, sugar, baking soda, eggs, etc. "Complicated" ingredients are also hard to find and expensive at popular markets that cater to Westerners like City Shop. Good vanilla extract is always worth the monetary sacrifice.

Sugar cookies are a guaranteed bet on a minimal use of ingredients. It is down to a good recipe to produce a good cookie. These cookies are a little chewy and a little cake-y with a crisp edge. Its simplicity and variety of textures made it a hit.

Some substitutes were made. Instead of 1/4 cup of light brown sugar, 1/8 cup dark brown sugar + 1/8 cup granulated white sugar was used. The eggs in Shanghai also tend to be slightly smaller than the "large" eggs sold in markets in the United States and London.

Chewy Sugar Cookies #2 (adapted)
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 1/2 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup coarse sugar

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F. Cream together butter and sugars. Beat in vanilla extract and then the egg. Beat in flour, salt, and baking soda. Using a cookie scoop or rounded teaspoons, drop balls of dough into coarse sugar to cover them. Place sugar-coated cookie dough balls on baking sheet about 1 1/2 inches apart. Do not press the balls down. Bake 8-10 minutes, turning pan mid-way through baking.